If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

did microsoft just d/l some thing from my computer?

i was trying to install a program for my web browser (i am running win xp on this box, so its IE6)and it was not working and so i was fooling around with the browser settings when i figured out that the prog itself wasnt right not my browser, anyways i hit the restore defaults on my advanced option tab and then disconnected and restarted, when i connected again and went to load up my browser i was takin to microsofts update page as my home page....even though when i checked the settings it was still set as google.com being my home page.then i tried going to google and my browser crashes and i get a messege saying "were sorry for the incoviences internet explorer was closed down" and i have seen these type of messages before a prog has a issue and says it needs to be shut down, so anyone who at this point thats thinking it might be a virus ...dont. anyways i hit the see more tech info on this document. and was presented with the path name that was to be sent, cause anyone who knows win xp might have seen these messages and it ask you if you want to send the error report or not, along with a whole bunch or hex code( i think thats what it is called, i have used a hex editor a couple of times and this looked exactly like it) and as i was scroling down i noticed words like RSA microsoft encrypt, dns information and a whole bunch of stuff that didnt look right, and when i did a search on my comp to see the file that it was suppose to send i came up with this

now, i know im new but why would it say that it wanted this file but when i took a look to see what info was to be sent with it i see stuff like rsa microsoft encryption and dns information?i would have posted that to unfortunatley when i tried to copy it it would not let me.so i hit do not send and all i see is a flash of a file transfer...just a really quick flash, i swear that it sent the stuff anyways.ive d/l enough things i know what a file transfer looks like, and i swear thats what i saw. am i being over paranoid here? am i blowing this way out of proportion? i would like your guys opinion.thanx in advance.

You have the automatically check for internet explorer updates in the Advanced settings for ie.knowledge base info

I suggest not allowing it to automatically update ie or windows for that matter. rule of thumb is to make sure there is an uninstall for the update. tons of updates have the caveat of "no uninstall" making it a real pain to fix whatever the update broke

The page is in German but don't let that worry you. Just click download and you can figure it out. You only need to run it once. It allows you to check off the various programs that communicate with Microsoft. It might surprise you how many programs in XP can "talk" back and forth with MS.

I have a shortcut to it on my desktop just in case I want to enable one of the various programs. So far, I haven't. It's well worth the few K of space for the privacy it gives you, plus knowing that MS isn't going to dump something onto your hard drive or whatever else they do.

No, jagfire. What xpantispy can do is disable all the various programs that can communicate with microsoft. When you run it, it gives you the choice of checking boxes (to disable the program) or leaving them. A small bubble type thing appears telling what each program does. If you want to leave it unchecked, it's up to you. Once you're done, you won't even know xpantispy is there. It doesn't log anything or do anything but turn programs on or off.

Basically, you can search through xp and do the same thing this program does, if you know where to look and what to turn off. xpantispy just saves you the trouble by doing the job for you. It's like having all the bits of xp software that communicate to MS or the web without you knowing it in one place, so you can disable whichever ones you want.

chuck56 that prog is awsome, thanx alot man,and faust thats one of the weird things my automatic updates are off, i turned them off about 2 months ago in the services section under admin tools.thanx again fellas.

apologize for posting this second one...should have put it on the other one,anyways if anyone has any ideas what all that code that i posted above could be id appreciate the input.